The 14 Most Awesome Convertibles Ever Built

Few things are as life-affirming as driving with the top down, and when done right, a convertible is motoring perfection.
But some are better than others. Scarcely a few dozen truly great convertibles have ever graced our highways, and, for our money, these are the cream. The best of the best. What we'd sell an extraneous body part to own and adore. Anyone wanna buy a slice of a slightly (ab)used liver?
Photo: Corbis

Austin-Healey Sprite

There's a problem with convertibles: they've got no rigidity, which makes them a wobbly mess to cane through the corners. The Austin-Healey Sprite was the first car to solve that problem using a chassis, body, and suspension all tied together to eliminate flex. Over the years, the Sprite was affectionately referred to as the "Bugeye" or "Frogeye" for its round, upright headlamps. Although the original design and engineering goal was to have them sink into the bodywork when not in use, that didn't happen because of cost-cutting. Which is a probably a good thing, given the Brit's reputation for shoddy electronics.
Photo: John W./Flickr

Porsche 356 Speedster

The 356 is the first, true Porsche. And while the coupe might be the better driver, the Speedster is what we crave. Sure, the 356's original underpinnings were pulled from a Beetle and the engine had about as much punch as an anemic sloth, but by the late 1950s and into the 60s, it came into its own, using more Porsche-specific parts to improve handling and aerodynamics, slowly mutating into one of the most entertaining roadsters in the world. And that deliberate, stubborn evolution is what eventually led to the creation of its successor: the 911.
Photo: FV69/Flickr

Jaguar XK120

Ask us what's our favorite Jaguar convertible and our knee-jerk response is the E-Type. But give us a few seconds of introspection and the XK120 tops the list. It's pure, British motoring perfection, with an aluminum body, elongated hood and more curves than a Hawaiian Tropic contest. The "120" referred to its top speed, but if you removed the windshield, it could break 130 MPH, and it has the racing and rally wins to prove it.
Photo: Georg Schwalbach /Flickr

Lincoln Continental

The Continental has been around in all shapes, sizes, and body styles since 1939, but the fourth generation reigns supreme. One of the first modern, four-door drop-tops, it not only came with a 462 cubic-inch V8 (that's 7.6 liters) but it had suicide-freaking-doors. Tell us we're going on a road trip to Vegas, and there's only one car we're throwing a grand in cash and a clean pair of underwear into.
Photo: John W./Flickr

Pagani Zonda Roadster

On the list of Things We Need to Drive Before We Die, the Pagani Zonda is near the top. Specifically, we won't go into the ground before we drive the Zonda Cinque Roadster, one of five, $2 million convertibles coated in carbon fiber, festooned with an interior pulled from a J.J. Abrams set, and powered by a twin-turbocharged V12 from AMG that's good for over 700 horsepower and a 0-60 run of 3.2 seconds.
Photo: Alexandre Prevot/Flickr

Mazda MX-5 Miata

Back down on Earth, we'd happily make due with this. It's the original Mazda MX-5 Miata, a glorious middle finger to the British that proved you can make a fun, flickable roadster without having your mechanic on speed dial. It was cheap, cheerful, a complete hoot to drive, and you can still get a nicely maintained example for a steal on the used market. Image: Mazda

MGB

Think "British roadster" and the MGB will be the first thing to spring to mind. When it replaced the MGA in 1962, it defined the small sports car segment for a generation. It originally started with a whiny little four-cylinder engine, but eventually housed an inline-six and later a loping V8. But lightweight, drop-top fun wasn't the MGB's only contribution: it was the first vehicle to feature crumple zones. And it inspired the Japanese to create the Miata.
Photo: Pyntofmyld/Flickr

Chevrolet Corvette

Picking the perfect drop-top 'Vette is a hard one. The 1967 Stingray convertible tugs on our heartstrings and the original '53 has a shape that would make Charles and Ray Eames double over in envy. But you can't deny the Americana sex appeal of the revamped 1958 model, with its quartet of headlamps, wrap-around windshield, elongated tail, and iconic creases that swept from the front wheel wells into the doors. And with the fuel-injected version producing 360 hp, it had the power to match its presence.
Image: General Motors

Lotus Seven

If there's a British yin to the Corvette's yang, the Lotus Seven is it. Lotus founder Colin Chapman was obsessed with weight -- specifically, removing everything that wasn't directly involved with the act of driving. The Seven is his philosophy distilled into its purest form. It's small, simple, incredibly light, and since the Seven's introduction in 1957, it's spawned dozens of copycats and tributes powered by everything from triple rotary engines to honking, supercharged V8s. It's driving perfection personified and to manhandle one is the only way to understand it's sickeningly sadistic appeal.
Photo: Steve Harris /Flickr

Alfa Romeo Spyder

No, not the original Spyder. And certainly not that bastardized thing from the 90s. The 1970 Alfa Romeo Series 2 Spyder is The One. It gave the Brits a run for their money, instilled itself into American pop culture, was supremely fun, incredibly attractive, and -- like its compatriots from the U.K. -- was a dastardly mess to fix. But when it ran, it would make a blast to the store feel like a run through the Alps.
Image: Alfa Romeo

Jensen Interceptor

Take an Italian-designed body, fit it with a British suspension, and then stuff it with a big-ass Chrysler V8. On paper, it was the thing of dreams. In reality, it was a beautiful nightmare. But that hasn't stopped us from fawning over the Jensen Interceptor for years, particularly the rare 1974 convertible III model which only accounted for 267 examples of this ode to great ideas executed poorly.
Image: Jensen

Gibbs Aquada

Speaking of great ideas with questionable execution, this could be the ultimate convertible, the Gibbs Aquada. It was one of the first truly usable modern amphibious vehicles, with a 100 mph top speed on the road and a 26-knot v-max in the water. It shuttled our favorite millionaire, Richard Branson, across the English Channel in 1 hour and 40 minutes in 2004, breaking the record for an amphibious vehicle by over four hours.
Photo: Gibbs Technologies

Triumph TR6

While MG and Alfa were sticking with poky four-bangers, the blokes at Triumph knew that an inline-six could rule the road. The TR6, introduced in 1969, remains one of the most purposeful, entertaining roadsters of its generation, despite making due with an old-school body-on-frame design that the rest of the world was beginning to shun. Photo: Triumph

1957 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder LWB

Give us $10 million, say "only buy Ferraris" and we won't snag a handful of 458s and a few F12s. We'll buy one: The 1957 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder LWB. There's never been a more knee-weakeningly gorgeous car crafted by the hand of man. There are only 50 in existence, only half of which are accounted for, and the last one sold for almost $11 million ... so we'll have to save up for the rest to realize our wildest fantasy.
Photo: Nparish /Flickr